Date: Mon, 6 Feb 2023 07:47:57 +0000 (UTC) From: Alex Century Subject: Takeoffs and Landings Jared and Matt's Story Chapter 8 Matt "My name is Matt and I'm an alcoholic," I introduced myself when it was my turn to share. "Hi Matt!" the others responded. As soon as I opened my mouth to speak the tears started flowing and I had to gather myself. "I'm so grateful to all of you. Every one of you who's taken my nonstop calls, to my sponsor, for letting me share here. My husband decided to move home with our kids because I've been sober for a month and I'm getting better. He even said to me that as long as I stay sober we'll stay together." I could see the pride on the faces of everyone in the room because they had seen me in my worst hour. It had been some incredibly hard work but it was paying off. After a few more months I was allowed to be alone with the boys which made me feel so much better about my recovery. But then there was one night that Jared and I both got a scare. We made the boys hot dogs for dinner and Jared had gotten up to refill his glass. All of a sudden I heard a weird sound and when I looked up Nate had a terrified look on his face. His eyes were as big as half-dollars and he wasn't breathing. I jumped up as he put his hands around his throat and grabbed him by his armpits to stand him up on his chair. I put my fist above his belly button like I'd been taught in our parenting classes three years before and grabbed my fist with my other hand and thrusted upwards. The first one didn't work. He was shaking with fear now and I knew I had to work fast. Jared came into the room as I delivered another harder thrust, and the piece of hot dog came flying out of his mouth, across the dining room table, and landed on Jack's plate. The kids looked at me shocked and Jared was still processing what he'd just seen. Nate started crying and I picked him up and held him to console him. "You're okay buddy, you're okay," I whispered to him. I saw the fear start to drain from his eyes and he even managed a smile. It soon disappeared after I set him down and he started to hunch over. "My tummy hurts," he said and Jared sprung into action. "Matt you get him to the hospital, I'll take these two over to my parents' house and meet you there," he instructed in his man-with-a-plan voice. About a half hour later he was there in the ER waiting room with the two of us. Luckily they got him in pretty quickly. They did an ultrasound on his abdomen and quickly found there were no injuries and sent him home with some medication for his sore muscles. That night when we laid down to go to sleep the gravity of what had happened started to sink in. "That was really scary," I said while stroking his hair. "Yeah it was," he replied starting to tear up. "Matt I'm so fucking proud of you," he replied. That fall I celebrated six months of sobriety. I hadn't seen my parents in over a year so I decided to approach Jared about taking the boys to Delaware for Christmas that year. They hadn't really gotten to spend a lot of time with our boys so they were at the top of the list of priorities for Christmas travel. "I think they'd have a lot of fun at the beach house," Jared replied with a smile. Later that week Jared booked our tickets out there and my heart warmed when I heard how excited my parents were to hear that we were coming. I decided to take it upon myself to get our Christmas shopping started early since we were going on vacation and that I should probably ask them to start making their lists. "Is there anything you guys want for Christmas?" I asked over dinner a few days later. "A sister," Jack said nonchalantly and I nearly spit out my drink. "I don't think that's going to happen," Jared replied as I was trying to figure out what to say. "Why not? We're all boys. Why can't we have a here?" Danny asked. "It's just that it's hard to adopt kids. There's a process," I explained as best I could. "How did you get us?" Nate asked with a quizzical look on his face. "Remember how Danny's mom and dad are in heaven? We adopted you guys," I said, giving my usual answer when that topic came up. "Okay," Jack said and that was the end of the conversation. Later that night Jared and I were flabbergasted when we tried to process that conversation. "We're not having another kid," I said and Jared smiled. "I think that's out of the question." "Don't worry I wasn't even thinking about that," he replied. "Do you think they're old enough for a dog?" "I hadn't thought of that," he replied. "We'll make sure it's a girl. That's the best we can do," I said smiling mischievously and Jared seemed to like that idea. "Have you ever had a dog before?" I asked. "Nope. What about you?" "We had two dogs when I was a kid but they were already old when I was born. I think I was in second grade when the last one died and we never got another after that." "So this will be a learning experience," he replied. "We've got a big backyard, we can put it to good use," I thought out loud. A couple months later it was time for our trip. I was really nervous about putting our three rambunctious boys on a five-hour flight but at least we didn't have to make a connection. I slid my hand into Jared's as we walked down the jet bridge and I was silently hoping that there wouldn't be anyone between us. The boys got their own row which I was nervous about but they did great. They kept themselves occupied with their games for most of the flight and I was so proud of them. My parents met us at the Philadelphia airport and it was a tight squeeze for the 40 minute drive back to Delaware but when we got there and got the boys in bed my parents sat me down. "Matt we're really proud of you. You could have completely destroyed your life but you turned things around and that's really inspiring," my mom said. "We love you so much. You're a good father." On Christmas morning we watched as the boys opened their presents with anticipation for the one we didn't put under the tree. We weren't sure at first how we were going to break the news but Jared came up with a good idea. "There's one more," I said as I ran back to the spare bedroom to get it. It was a small box that we had borrowed from my parents and wrapped like any other gift. "Who's it for?" Nate asked. "It's for everyone," I replied. "Can I open it?" asked Danny. "Sure," Jared answered. We looked at each other knowing this was a moment we'd never forget. He ripped the paper apart and pulled open the box's flaps. I'll never forget the confused look on his face as he pulled the item out. "What is it?" Jack asked. "It's a dog collar," I said as a smile broke out on my face so big it almost hurt. "You mean?" Danny said as his face lit up like a city at night. "We're getting a dog," Jared confirmed. The three of them jumped up from the floor and came running over to hug us and I looked up at my mom who had tears in her eyes. After we were done my mom got Christmas dinner started and Jared and I took the boys outside to play in the snow. They'd never seen so much of it before and they couldn't believe how much fun it was. "Here, grab a bunch of snow and smush it in your hands," I explained to the three of them. "Now roll it in the snow until it's nice and big. All three of you, keep rolling them until they're really big," I said as I stepped back to watch them. "How big?" Jack asked. "Keep going," I replied. "And go towards the street!" "It's too heavy," Nate yelled as he stopped to rest. "Okay then, we'll build it right there," I said as Jared and I came over to help. It took both of us to lift the snowballs into place for the snowman but we got it done. I ran inside to get supplies for the face and we ended up using two Oreos for the eyes and a wooden spoon for the nose. "The other fun thing about snowballs," I said mischievously as I picked up some snow and made another one, "is that you can throw them at people." I hurled one at Jared and hit him in the leg and it was on. The three of them laughed like idiots as they pelted each other. "Look what you've done," Jared said in a half-serious voice as he tried not to laugh without much success. We came inside and got everyone's clothes changed and soon it was time for dinner. I was so thankful to still have my family and that I was getting my life back on track. I was feeling so much better physically as well as emotionally. I couldn't stop smiling that day and as we packed the car to go home I had something in mind. That evening we lounged on the couch watching Frosty The Snowman with the boys and Jared and I held hands the entire time. It wasn't long before they couldn't keep their eyes open anymore and the two of us snuck off to our bedroom. We stood there holding each other and kissing as we lifted each other's shirts off and slid out of our pants. Jared got into the bed first and I pounced on that opportunity to get on top of him. I ran my fingers through his hair and sucked on his nipples before I headed south. I pushed inside him and we both moaned with instant pleasure. I worked my magic, making him speak in tongues as we went to town. We were just having a grand old time until it happened out of the blue. "Dad?" I heard Jack say behind us. I gasped and pulled out of him and rolled over onto my back as fast as I could. This was the exact reason why we had started having sex under a blanket when we became parents. It hadn't happened yet but we knew it would one day. "What do you need?" I asked. Jared was still making sense of it all and was too shocked to say anything. "Can I have some water?" "Yeah buddy, just go and sit down on the couch and I'll get it for you in a second," I replied. "Can you close the door on your way out please?" "I can't believe that just happened," Jared said sounding horrified as I got up to put my pajama pants on. "It was bound to eventually," I replied. "I hope he's not traumatized," Jared said. "He's six. He has no idea what was going on," I answered and Jared sighed. "It'll be okay, let me get him taken care of and I'll be right back." "What were you doing?" he asked when I headed for the kitchen. "We'll talk about that in the morning," I said. I got him his water and headed back to bed. Jared was still rattled by the whole thing and I put my arm around him as I got back into bed. "I guess now I know why Dr. Phil says sex education starts at birth," he said and I laughed. "I told him we'll talk about it in the morning." "I'm not looking forward to that," he said in a reluctant voice. "Jared you're making this a bigger deal than it needs to be. We'll just tell him it was a normal thing that he'll understand when he gets older." He shook his head with incredulity. The next morning I took Jack aside and brought him into our bedroom. We sat down on either side of him and I went through what I'd rehearsed in my head the night before. "What we were doing was what adults do to show express how much they love each other," I said. "It's a beautiful thing and you'll learn more about it when you get older." "Okay," he said shrugging his shoulders. "Can I go watch Fairly Odd Parents now?" "Sure," I said as I patted him on the shoulder and he headed for the living room. "What'd I tell you?" I said giving Jared a sly look. It was the day we were flying home and our flight was in the evening so we made one last trip to my parents' house before we returned to the beach house to get packed. But before we left we bundled the kids up and took them for a walk on the beach before we got in the car and headed north. "Hey can I keep this shell?" asked Danny. "Absolutely," Jared said. "But don't worry, we'll be back next summer," he said giving me a suggestive look. It was a five and a half hour flight home and when we got back to our house we were all exhausted. The boys had a couple more days off of school before Christmas break ended so Jared and I stayed home with them. That following weekend we went to the local animal shelter to see the dogs they had available. "Welcome, come on in," said the receptionist. "Are you looking for a dog or a cat?" "A dog. The boys want a sister but that's not going to happen so we're looking for a girl," I explained. "We have quite a few," she said as she walked us back into the rooms where the dogs lived. In one cage was a beagle. She had black all over her back with brown shoulders and arms and white paws. The bottom of her tail was black and the top half was white. She was sleeping when we walked in but she woke up when she heard us. "This is Josie, she was rescued from a puppy mill in West Virginia." "West Virginia, that's a long way," Jared said. "Yeah the shelters are full all over the country. They're shipping them to pretty much any shelter that has space." "Look!" Danny shouted. Josie was holding her paw up as if to say "Pick me!" We had our dog. Jared looked so adorable holding her as I filled out the adoption paperwork and wrote the check. Danny took to her like a fish to water. He spent a lot of time training her and he was a natural at it. One day when I came home from work I heard his voice from the backyard yell "Hey Dad, watch this!" I came around the side yard and found the two of them. "Sit," Danny said and Josie sat right down. "Stay," he said holding his hand out before he took five steps backward. She sat there like a statue. "Come!" he shouted and she came running. Danny tossed her a Cheerio and she jumped up to catch it. "Good girl," he cheered as he dropped down to her level and she slurped his face with delight. "Wow," I said blown away at how much she was learning just a couple months after we'd gotten her. Every morning when the boys got up for school she would greet them but she'd jump up and down with the most excitement when Danny came out of his room. Around that same time Nate started playing youth football and he was a natural athlete. They had him playing linebacker and he was soon the most feared player on the field. The next few years were great and we were a happy family. But then one day when Danny was 10 everything started to change. *** Hey everyone, Alex here. Thanks for reading! If you like what you see or just want to chat, feel free to drop me a line at AlexCenturyErotica@yahoo.com. I love hearing from my readers. I'm sorry for how long it took to get this chapter up, but I hope that you enjoyed it and will stay tuned for the next one.